Anime News Network was provided an advanced review copy of this game.

Nearly three years since the release of PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, Square Enix and developer Xeen are back with PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse, a new paranormal narrative story set in the Ise area of Japan. Takanari Ishiyama's second entry pulls from the epic historical poem The Tale of the Heike, the story of Urashima Taro, Japanese mermaid myths, and a bit of Hans Christian Andersen for good measure. While all of these elements come together in a snug, fantastical narrative, the first entry's shortcomings remain, and this new game's shift away from spookier, creepier plot beats left me wanting.

Like its predecessor, The Mermaid's Curse features a primary and secondary timeline and the ability to move between character perspectives. This time, players will move between Yuza, paranormal investigator Yumeko and her assistant Kiryu, folklorist and author Arnav Barnum and his guide Circe Lunarlight, and recent island transplant Sato Shiranami. Each character's motivations are intertwined with local mermaid legends, and players will often find themselves traveling (and learning about) real places on the Ise Peninsula (though Kameshima is the primary setting and is fictional).

Unlike Seven Mysteries of Honjo's Sumida area, the Ise locales feel slightly more ham-fisted. See, both games are created in conjunction with tourism bureaus. I found this amusing for Seven Mysteries of Honjo since the storytelling described the area in less-than-flattering terms. Not so in Ise. The area offers a blend of small-town charm, with fishing villages along the coast and beautiful beach views. Admittedly, it was effective, and I've added "Ise" to my list of places to visit in Japan whenever I can get out of Tokyo. Effective marketing aside, the lengthy location entries in the game's encyclopedia and long discussions about the area from various characters veered a little too close to outright advertising.

However, that's a minor quibble. I devoured this game from the moment it arrived in my inbox, but as I kept playing, I seemed stuck on a track far more often than I remembered from the previous entry. Quite a few chapters have little to no direct interactivity beyond looking around (usually to spot one of the bonus collectibles) and talking to whichever character is in the area. Small gameplay differences between characters are rarely utilized. You might get access to an inventory, but it's only available in a single chapter and is not a consistent part of gameplay. Another character has a form of second sight, but toggling it on rarely reveals anything interesting and feels like a big missed opportunity for environmental storytelling. There is a fun diving mini-game, but that too lacked variety. Ultimately, you can retrieve five types of sea creatures, and the mini-game never moves beyond its starting zone.

While the above aspects are underutilized bonuses, the lack of interactivity that would trigger alternative outcomes is my biggest disappointment. Only a small number of chapters have actual storyline options. I would have appreciated more time with Yumeko and Kiryu and Arnav and Circe. Most of Yumeko's backstory is delivered through her Encyclopedia entry rather than being directly telegraphed to the player. In fact, players will likely spend a significant amount of time reading through these entries to get the full picture. Occasionally, you'll need to answer questions based on information in the entries, and that's when I encountered the biggest quality-of-life problem: there's no search function. Information about mythological and historical elements can be spread across multiple entries, making it time-consuming to track down the entry with the relevant info.

The game's characters kept me motivated through much of the story. Even when I felt like I had little interaction with the narrative, I still enjoyed watching the primary group interact. The Mermaid's Curse gets far on humor. It's one aspect of the writing that I fully enjoyed. Reaction faces are genuinely funny, and the primary cast is full of weirdos and goofballs. Arnav tries to play it cool, but his strong dad energy fails him at every turn. Yuza is doing his best, but often overreacts to diffuse situations, and then there's Sato, who interacts with the world through the lens of '80s TV drama.

The last little caveat I'll throw out there without spoiling anything is: if you're playing this on PC, make sure all your peripheral equipment is working. I played the first game on Switch, so when it was time to break out the unique gameplay elements, I had everything at my disposal. I played the Steam version of The Mermaid's Curse, and it might be shocking to know that I don't have a functioning mic set-up on here. This very likely got in the way of my ability to get the full "true" ending. I'll get to it eventually. I just ended up having to drop some money I had put off and wait for decent equipment to arrive.

I love the world of PARANORMASIGHT; the myths and characters. I just want it to be a little more. The bones are all there; they have been since the first game. Xeen just needs to take the time to build on them.